Key Habitat Protected for Cerulean Warblers in Ohio

Cerulean Warblers are sadly in decline. These beautiful, sometimes hard to see wood warblers are one of our favorites. We have several reliable preserves where they nest in northern Illinois but not in any great numbers.

The Vinton Furnance Experimental Forest (along with the neighboring Raccoon Ecological Management Area) is located 75 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio contains the highest recorded density of Ceruleans in Ohio and perhaps all of the Appalachians. Thus, this is an extremely important area to preserve and protect.

Not only does this area hold Cerulean Warblers but also other birds and animals of conservation concern: Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Wood Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, timber rattlesnake, black bear, and bobcat.

Since 1952 the area has been used for forest use and sustainability research including that of oak forest restoration. This is crucial towards implementing habitat restoration efforts for Cerulean Warblers and the research done here has contributed to citations in numerous scientific papers on forest ecology and management as well as wildlife.

The Ohio DNR’s goal is to complete the purchase of this important habitat by July 2010. The land will be renamed Vinton Furnace Experimental State Forest.

2 thoughts on “Key Habitat Protected for Cerulean Warblers in Ohio”

This makes me think of our brown-headed nuthatches. They’re not as severely threatened as the cerulean warblers, but we’re not doing anything to slow their decline, certainly. If anything, housing here has boomed after Hurricane Katrina. Our neighborhood, alone, has completely exploded in the past year…and I see fewer & fewer brown-headed nuthatches. <:(

Lana – having never seen a Brown-headed Nuthatch (need to get down there one of these days) that is disappointing. It seems that they would fair OK with urban areas like other nuthatches but competition among house sparrows is probably a problem. We really need more restored and preserved areas, especially in areas where new housing is going up.

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This website is written and maintained by Eddie Callaway and Jennie Callaway, a brother-sister duo with ties to northern Illinois and northwestern Ohio.

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